Chapter 105

Chapter 105

Spendthrift Necromancer (105)

Times Square (2)

He returned home and met Chairman Kim.

“I've finished talking with Dorim. We're getting a few production plants, and as for the rest…… Father, why don't we use this opportunity to invest in mana-stone batteries?”

“Mana-stone batteries? Of course, as you said, it's a necessary field…… but can we beat America?”

“Even a thousand-mile journey begins with a single step. And we aren't starting from absolutely nothing. We're taking Dorim's operation.”

“Hmm…… the price?”

“We'll have to let the working-level people go over it, but they won't try to rip us off.”

Chairman Kim tapped the table thoughtfully.

“Is it because you're short on cash?”

“No. Our products are selling like hotcakes these days. We can afford it. But…… let's say the research succeeds. Can we withstand pressure from the Americans?”

Chairman Kim was right. Even if Ilseong developed it alone, they wouldn't be able to handle the aftermath.

American pressure would be no joke.

But…….

With Spendthrift Guild, the story changed somewhat. They might not have enough influence to put the brakes on America right now, but would that still be true later?

“There's no reason we can't. Battery development doesn't happen overnight. We'll have plenty of time to prepare.”

“True. I've heard Chairman Jo has poured money into it for ten years. Though even after all that, he still couldn't beat American batteries…….”

“If we develop it, we can take a share of that market too. It'll become a good cash cow for Ilseong.”

Chairman Kim nodded.

His son was right.

The problem was developing it. But if they succeeded?

Demand was practically endless.

Mana-stone vehicles, smartphones, energy storage systems, submarines, all kinds of electronics, satellites.

They could sweep through all of them.

Even setting that aside, simply being able to use the batteries in Ilseong products would be a major advantage.

Given two identical products, people naturally preferred the one that lasted far longer, charged faster, and used a more durable battery.

Right now, because Ilseong couldn't make those itself, Ilseong phones used American batteries.

And they paid quite a bit per unit for them.‘The fact that Minwoo specifically brought this over means there's definitely something there.’Dorim's battery division.

Looking at it objectively, it wasn't especially valuable. That was probably why Chairman Jo had been willing to carve it off and hand it over.

But Dorim had plenty of divisions worth about that much. Out of all of them, Minwoo had specifically chosen the battery field?

In the past, Chairman Kim would've dismissed it as another immature whim from a wastrel.

Now things were different.

After everything Minwoo had shown him.

Chairman Kim had already come to trust his eldest son deeply.

He'd seen something.

Or at the very least, sensed something, which was why he'd singled that division out.‘Fine. Let's do it.’They couldn't spend forever being dragged around by the leash America held around their necks.

And Ilseong had an EX-rank Awakened and multiple SSS-rank Awakened at its back.

By the time they actually developed the battery, perhaps those people would have grown enough that even America couldn't suppress them easily.

“Fine. We'll acquire it.”

“You won't regret it.”

“Good. What about the advertisement? Did they accept?”

“Yes. Both of them agreed.”

“Hoho. The rate was rather high.”

Kim Minwoo nodded.

Five hundred billion won per person for one advertisement.

Maybe only the absolute top tier of world rankers normally commanded that kind of appearance fee.

Chairman Kim had probably bet on their future rather than their present.‘Nothing bad about that.’Relationships could grow through business dealings too.

If he slowly tied the guild members to Ilseong this way, then when their value skyrocketed later, Ilseong would still be the first to extend a hand.

“I saw the broadcast. Your guild members are extraordinary.”

“They're SSS-rank.”

“You don't need to worry about foreign scouting offers?”

“For now, no.”

“Good. I trust you to handle it.”

They decided to shoot the advertisement the very next day.

Better to get chores like this out of the way quickly and return to leveling.

After leaving the study.

He ran into Hyungseok.

“Yo, little brother.”

“Yo, Hyung. That match today was insane.”

“Yeah, thanks for the compliment. By the way, I've got a favor to ask.”

“A favor? What?”

“You have to go back in about a week, right? Head back early for me.”

“Go back to America early? Why?”

“Skill Books.”

“B-rank? Already?”

Hyungseok's eyes widened. The Level requirement for B-rank Skill Books was 2

5

1.

Meaning Minwoo's Level was already close to that.

Reaching such a Level only around three months after Awakening.

Hyungseok knew his brother was doing well, but this was truly beyond imagination.

“Yeah. I've been sweeping the auction house whenever I have time, but there aren't enough listings. This isn't nearly enough.”

Korea was fundamentally a weak Awakened nation and lacked high-Level Awakened.

Naturally, there weren't many high-rank Skill Books on the market either.

America was different.

The strongest Awakened nation in the world.

It had enormous numbers of B-rank and higher Awakened.

If you gathered Skill Books across America, then with enough luck, there might even be enough to push a B-rank Skill all the way to +9.

“So you want me to sweep them up?”

“Yeah. This isn't pocket change. If I leave it to some random bastard, he might shut his eyes, grab the money, and disappear.”

“Fair.”

Hyungseok nodded in agreement.

A +9 B-rank Skill.

Just looking at it, trillions of won would go into the process.

Even entrusting someone with hundreds of millions would feel uncomfortable, but trillions?

Nobody could blame them for vanishing with the money.

That was why Minwoo had gone to his younger brother Hyungseok.

He was the perfect purchasing agent.

The man was going to inherit the company. He wasn't about to run off with a few trillion won.

And he was family.‘If I can't trust him, there's nobody in the world I can trust.’And he happened to be returning to America anyway.

If Hyungseok went back first, kept sweeping up Skill Books, then handed them over once Minwoo needed them, that would be perfect. Minwoo wouldn't have to waste time sitting around waiting for listings.

“Sure. You want me to make it +9?”

“Yeah. I already got it to +4. Here.”

“Wow. Summon Dullahan. Just how much stronger are you going to get once you learn this?”

“A lot stronger than before, probably. Ah, and while you're there, can you also sweep up attribute items?”

“Attribute items? Oh, right. You said that bird eats them.”

“Yeah. I'll transfer plenty of money, so buy as much as the budget allows.”

Now that the investment had come through, it was about time to raise Snowy's attributes again.

With so many high-Level Awakened in America, there should be quite a few decent attribute items as well.

“Got it. If it's something like this, I should head back early. Actually, you know what? I'll buy everything, then come back to Korea once more.”

“Oh, seriously?”

“Yeah. Time is gold for an Awakened like you. A college student like me should be the one making time.”

“Thanks.”

That would make procuring the Skill Books much easier.* * *The next morning.

They headed toward the advertising set.

He'd been given a rough explanation of the concept.‘An Awakened performance, was it?’Apparently the idea was for them to use their Skills at night and put on a show.

But the audience extras.‘Half human, half Skeleton.’That was roughly the concept.

Well, it didn't seem like it would cause any major broadcasting-standard problems.

It wasn't as though Necromancers had never appeared on terrestrial TV before.

They were an unpopular Class, sure, but they'd appeared on television plenty of times.

The same was true in the West.

Zombies or Ghouls with maggots crawling over them might be another story, but Skeletons were usually fine on TV.

Technically, zombies and Ghouls could appear too, but seeing them while you were eating was a bit much.

So as a general rule, disgusting undead like those were usually blurred out.

You needed at least the cute charm of Skeletons if you wanted to avoid getting blasted by the editing beam.‘And they're putting clothes on them too.’He'd heard the Skeletons would wear ordinary casual clothes like real people, stand beside human extras, and wave phones around like spectators at a concert.‘Might actually work.’At the very least, it was fresh.

After all, what company had ever tried making an advertisement around Necromancer summons?

Normally, they'd pick attractive, popular Awakened and shoot something polished and conventional.

That method might not produce a massive success, but it rarely became a catastrophic failure.

This approach?

It was so unconventional that there were only two possible outcomes: a massive hit or a massive flop.

He suddenly remembered something Chairman Kim had said a few months earlier.―Once you're famous, people will applaud even if you take a shit.

Something along those lines.‘Maybe he was actually right.’His NewTube subscriber count had been steadily climbing.

After yesterday's Guild Battle, it reached a new peak.

Over seventy million subscribers.

Most of the comments desperately asked for Cedric and Merhen.

Incidentally, those two would be stars of the advertisement too.

Before long, they arrived at the stadium.

A venue somewhat smaller than Sangam Awakened Stadium.

They needed to fill the inside with Skeletons, and filling somewhere as huge as Sangam was impossible.

So they'd rented a reasonably sized stadium instead.

Seo Yerim and Park Siwoo were already waiting inside.

The two were repeatedly reading through the scripts they'd been given.‘Seo Yerim will handle herself fine.’She was already a fairly famous Awakened.

She'd done several advertisements before.

Park Siwoo was the concern.‘Well, he barely has any lines.’The performance itself was simple.

They weren't dancing or singing. They simply needed to use their Skills and make the stage as flashy as possible.

Then hold up the phone and say one line: Ilseong.

“Mr. Kim Minwoo! You're here!”

The director practically ran out in his socks to welcome him.

He was a famous director known for commanding one of the highest rates in Korea.

“Siwoo, my summons, and I are all doing commercials for the first time. Go easy on us.”

“Oh, of course! Everyone has a first time! I completely understand. Hoho. We can reshoot dozens, no, hundreds of times, so don't worry too much.”……

Hundreds?

Well, surely it wouldn't take that long.

He summoned the Skeletons.

“Go put your clothes on.”

While thousands of Skeletons bustled around, Cedric changed into his costume too. A pitch-black suit.

Merhen remained in her dress.

Soon, the Skeletons received a short lesson. Nothing difficult.

All they had to do was wave their phones at the same speed as the human standing beside them.

“All right, we're almost ready to shoot! Mr. Minwoo! Please position the Skeletons beside the audience!”

Half humans and half Skeletons filled the seats together harmoniously.

“All right, we're beginning the shoot!”

A moment later.

The filming began exactly as planned.

Dark night.

Brilliant stage lights burst to life.

Dolsoe appeared first. Park Siwoo sat atop the massive Bone Golem's shoulder.

Then he leaped into the air and summoned the Holy Sword.

The Holy Sword carved a brilliant white trail as he swung it through the air.

Following the sword trail, the Ilseong logo bloomed into existence.

The crowd roared in response, while the Skeletons began waving Ilseong phones like glowing light sticks.

Perfectly synchronized movements.

Now it was Seo Yerim's turn.

She summoned her Divine Bow and fired Rapid Fire into the sky.

Hundreds of arrows rose high before descending and forming an enormous shape.

A giant Ilseong phone.

Then, through the screen of the phone drawn by arrows, a massive Water Dragon emerged. It was the magic Merhen had revealed earlier.

The airborne cameras never lost sight of Merhen and Cedric riding atop the Water Dragon.

Awakened with telekinetic abilities were practically indispensable on advertising sets.

They made filming scenes like this far easier.

The ground cameras were still filming too.

The Skeletons and human spectators were frantically recording the two undead riding the Water Dragon overhead with their phones.

When Merhen and Cedric descended.

Park Siwoo raised his phone first and spoke.

“Ilseon.”

Seo Yerim raised hers.

“Ilseong.”

Then Cedric held up his phone.―Ilseong.

Merhen's turn.―Ilseong.

Kim Minwoo raised his phone and smiled.

“My happiness, Ilseong.”

A moment later.

“Cuuut! Very, very good! Absolutely peeerfect!”

“So we're done?”

“It was honestly sooo perfect! But I think it would be wonderful to shoot just one more take so we have something to compare it with. How about resting for exactly two minutes, then doing one more?”

“……

Sure.”

“As expected, nice and decisive! Excellent! Just one more take!”

During the brief break.

Park Siwoo approached with a broad grin.

“This is my first advertisement, but it's not that hard. Looks like we'll finish quickly.”

“Will we?”

“Huh? Why? The director said it was really good too.”

“……

Look over there.”

Kim Minwoo pointed.

Near where the director sat, dozens of Highest-Grade Mana Potions were stacked up.

“Uh…… what are those?”

“Maybe the Mana we're expected to use today?”

Park Siwoo's face went deathly pale.

Exactly.

Shouldn't have flubbed the pronunciation.

A hellish all-night shoot began.